Posted by: Gigi Allianic with Rebecca Whitham, Communications
She’s got quills, they’re multiplying.
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| Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. |
The littlest new addition to Woodland Park Zoo is a female North American porcupine, born April 4 in our Northern Trail exhibit.
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| Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo |
Porcupine babies, known as porcupettes (seriously), are born with a soft coat of quills that begins to harden within hours of birth. This immediately protects them from predators...and thick gloves immediately protect us from them!
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| Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo |
Our porcupette was born to Molly and Oliver, both 3-year-old residents of Northern Trail. This is their second offspring. The baby has access all day and night to the porcupine exhibit, but for now prefers to spend most of her time exploring in a den behind the scenes.
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| Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo |
She grooms herself a lot and is experimenting with different solid foods, like this specially prepared biscuit designed for leafeaters that looks enormous in her tiny hands.
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| Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo |
Zoo guests will begin seeing her more frequently on exhibit as she becomes more active and curious. Porcupettes become active quickly and, as natural tree dwellers, their climbing instincts take hold within weeks of delivery. Climbing makes foraging easier on the young, a skill set they exercise early in their development as they wean themselves from mom and transition to an herbivorous diet of leaves, twigs and bark.
Comments
And I'm behind in my zoo history, but how long has there been a breeding pair? I only remember loving the big stinky guy from about five(ish?) years ago. I thought he died, though?
Thanks!
Our breeding pair arrived here in 2011, but they were just babes then themselves.
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